manila ocean park

I’ve always wondered what the Manila Ocean Park was like,but people advised me to wait until everything was open before I went to visit.  Three years have passed since its grand opening in 2007,  but yey I was still an eager beaver to go in for the first time last month!

For a random Tuesday afternoon, I was surprised to see it packed, and not with school kids on a field trip, but with regular families with children and even seniors in tow.

Lots of interesting animals to see, this eel was among the first to greet us…

Such a menacing look from this ray! Doesn’t he remind you of Sebastian in The Little Mermaid…?

Have you ever seen a fish so cute? Or nagpapa-cute? Wonder what those teeth are for!!

One of the eeriest things I saw there– fish eggs…

We learned that the park uses filtered water from Manila Bay for the aquariums, and for contrast, also displays this filthy tank for the bay’s unfiltered water:

I hope the tahong (mussels) they serve in Dampa doesn’t come from here!

After the small fishes came the big fishes–and wow, was happy to see giant tilapia look-alikes there!

The finale was a walk-through aquarium called Buhay na Karagatan (Living Ocean):

It’s an approximation of what divers get to see on a regular basis… so nice.

My friends and I thought it was too short a walk-through, but we were happy to sit there for a while and get nice views of fishes’ underbellies.  Would’ve been perfect if we had ocean sounds playing in the background!

All in all, it was a pleasant first visit to Manila’s first and only Ocean Park. We thought we’d take at least 2 hours to explore the complex, but finished in under an hour… If we had kids with us, we probably would’ve paid more for the extra show, but we were hungry and couldn’t wait to eat in Makansutra, an Asian food court next to the mall area.

View more Manila Ocean Park pictures on flickr.

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The Manila Ocean Park is behind the Quirino Grandstand in Luneta, Manila.
P400 standard entrance fee for adults, P350 for kids .
It is open all year round, including all holidays.

The Oceanarium and Jellies
Mondays and Tuesdays:10:00am to 7:00pm – Last selling of Tickets – 6:15pm
Wednesdays to Fridays: 10:00am to 8:30pm – Last selling of Tickets – 7:45pm
Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holiday: 9:00am to 8:30pm – Last selling of Tickets – 7:45pm

Maiden of the Sea
Mondays and Tuesdays: No Show
Wednesdays to Sundays: 7:00pm (Bundled tickets with Oceanarium and SOLO Tickets)
**For guests who will buy bundled tickets at the POS cashiers last ticket selling will be at 6:45pm

Swimming & Fun and Waterball
Mondays to Sundays: 8:00am to 5:00pm

For more information, call Tel: (632) 5677777 Fax: (632) 5672309 or visit their website.